le. a new kind of network designed to save you money. click, call or visit today. welcome to "inside politics." >> i'm dana bash. john king has the day off. is a senate swap on the table? mitch mcconnell floats the idea of returning jeff sessions to his alabama seat as a write-in candidate even as the current republican candidate, roy moore, digs in. >> why do you think i'm being harassed by media and by people pushing allegations in the last 28 days of this election? i'm now facing allegations and that's all the press want to

talk about. but i want to talk about the issues. >> china sends an envoy to north korea while north korea continues to hurl insults at president trump. can the president claim his victory on the asia trip? >> the president's trip as trips with chinese leaders tend to be largely ceremonial and symbolic. so we'll have to see where the trip overall leads. and third time's the charm. the senate republican tax reform bill is morphing into obamacare and trying to repeal it. >> the goal is to repeal an unpopular tax from an unworkable law in order to provide more tax relief to middle class families. >> this is not just another garden variety attack on the affordable care act. this is repeal of that law.

>> there are no shortage of opinions in the gop about the firestorm surrounding alabama senate candidate roy moore, but the person who usually is not shy about giving his opinion on matters large and small the one who might matter the most has yet to speak out. donald j. trump. all eyes from here in washington all the way down to alabama are on the president's twitter feed wondering if today is the day president trump weighs in on whether moore should quit the race over sexual mitts conduct allegations. the republican national committee is no longer funding moore's campaign and party leaders say moore should step aside. but the embattled candidate, however, says he's not going anywhere. he told supporters is last night the allegations against him are part of a media conspiracy. >> obviously, i've made a few people mad. i'm the only one that can unite democrats and republicans.

because i seem to be opposed by both. i'm now placing allegations and that's all the press want to talk about. >> just a few hours ago moore added this tweet to that defense accusing senate majority leader mish mcconnell of trying to subvert the wilof alabama voters. mcconnell says the party's best option may be a write-in campaign for jeff sessions who created the senate vacancy in the first place. >> the name being most often discussed may not be available but the bal alabamian who would fit that standard would be the attorney general who is totally well-known and extremely popular in alabama. that obviously is -- would be a big move for him and for the president, but as the president is winding his way back to the united states, i'm confident this is an issue they're discussing in great detail.

>> confident because he's making sure they're discussing it trying to convince the white house we're told, but even some of moore's strongest defenders are losing patience. fox news's sean hannity last night gave moore 24 hours to explain inconsistencies in his statements. here to share the reporting and insights politico's elian na jaupz, perry bacon of 538, cnn's lauren fox and jeff mason with reuters. i do want to talk about the hannity dynamic in a second. let's start off with mish mcconnell saying out loud we were told at the beginning of the week about this sort of mounting idea to try to get jeff sessions back in the senate. he's as mcconnell just said a very, very popular -- how viable do you think this is? >> even if it seems viable, it poses risks. jeff sessions is unquestionably the only person in alabama, the only republican in alba ma who

could potentially pull this off. he's the only person with name id like lisa murkowski of alaska who could pull this off. when mcconnell backs an idea, there are more supporters in alabama who automatically dig in it against it. it carries the risk of dividing republican voters and handing a win to doug jones, the democratic candidate. i think that's what mcconnell and republicans in the white house will be grappling right now and in the coming days not to mention that it opens up the attorney general slot which has a whole domino effect of conflict. number one, the only reason why bob mueller is in his job, the only reason there's a special prosecutor is because jeff sessions had to recuse himself as attorney general. so that is likely something that the president is weighing as a positive. well, if i can get jeff sessions out, maybe i can maybe there's no reason for a special prosecutor but i'm not sure republicans on capitol hill would like that.

>> jeff sessions is seems to like the job he's in. he's seems very confident. i imagine he doesn't want to quit the job. you have a lot more power as the ag than one of 100 senators. that's the first step. does he move in the first place. then questions of can you get a replacement confirmed, how does that work? does the presidents have to promise not to fire muler. there's a lot of steps. but the first step system jeff sessions may want to the stay ag. >> as we're talking our awesome team at the white house, jeff zeleny and jeremy diamond are reporting what's going on at the white house. it's wait and see. it's kind of we started the show that we're all waiting to see what the president is going to do. they're trying to figure it out, as well inside the walls of the white house. a lot of discussions about whether the president the president believes it's bad for the republican brand, meaning moore's allegations but he's not publicly commenting on it yet.

as they discuss it, i think it's really important to play what have sean hannity said last night. he is not only somebody who has a lot of viewers in alabama, but he is somebody who is one of the president's probably one of his closest advisers. so what he says could have april packet on the president. let's take a listen. >> for me, the judge has 24 hours. he must immediately and fully come up with a satisfactory explanation for your inconsistencies that i just showed. you must remove any doubt. if you can't do this then judge moore needs to get out of this race. >> so is he giving the president cover? is he giving himself cover because some advertisers are threatening to pull out? maybe all of the above. but it's significant. >> i think it's all the above. when you talk to members on capitol hill, what they are saying is that president donald trump is more popular with the base than they are. what they are saying is important but they recognize that the president has to be the

one to come out and condemn this, call for him to exit the race in order for him to actually kind of heed that call, maybe more seriously. obviously, when you have conservatives very popular with the base, on national television calling for moore to either clean up these inconsistencies or drop out of the race, i think that's very important and a lot of base vote in other words alabama will be watching fox news tonight and waiting to see what he says. >> as we were talking, john cornyn, the number two republican in the senate who had a very good relationship with jeff sessions is just told reporters that he supports a sessions is write-in campaign on the ballot. do you think that there is any real possibility of that happening? >> i just think the complications that come up with that are enormous. and confirmation is a big one. the president already has a couple other cabinet secretaries that he needs to confirm. try and do a confirmation hearing for an attorney general in the middle of the russia probe you were just talking

about with the context of the pressure that president trump has put on general sessions and at a time when sessions is in the office that he wanted for a long time and still has things he wants to do particularly on immigration. >> after yesterday's hearing you got to wonder why can he wants to stay in that job. it's a lot better on the other side on the day yis. >> does he want to go back to the senate? so far not many republicans in alabama are criticizing roy moore. >> that's exactly where i wanted to go. because we're all talking in washington about people in washington and on tv and new york and guess what, this is an alabama senate race. the voters there decide. and we have not heard very much by way of criticism. just the opposite. dean young, who is a friend of roy moore, a political adviser, said the following -- what we're witnessing is a coup right in front of our eyes. everybody including the president, they know that judge moore is not going to get out of this race and it doesn't matter. all these false accusations keep

coming. and i mean, this is really, really important. the only people who have the power to changing thissing are roy moore stepping aside, doesn't like he will do that, the alabama republican party. doesn't look like they're going to do that at all or the governor also doesn't look like they're going to do that. how much of this pressure from washington matters if you're an alabama republican saying back off? >> i would suggest less than we're saying. it matters to some extent in the sense trump got 62% in alabama and moore is polling at about 48. moore's into the doing well. that said, the idea that mitch mcconnell will push him out, mcconnell is very unpopular among republicans in alabama. i don't think he can push anybody out in any race particularly this race. >> just to sort of put a button on that before we go to break, this is what as alabama rnc committee man said about the notion of a sessions write-in campaign, what it would mean for

alabama republican politicians. he said the following, the next move they try to make is to try to find a home in the metro atlanta area and get out of the state because they would be dead politically here. therein lies the very big gulf between washington and alabama what to do. up next had, republicans go big. tax reform is now obamacare repeal, too. the bitter fight over health care is back on and the bitterness on display. just this morning, on capitol hill. >> this is a tax. >> it is a $300 billion spending cut. >> excuse me, senator. i try not to interrupt you. i hope you don't interrupt me all day. >> could you answer the question, plgs chairman? >> when you have an opportunity to ask questions, yeah, he can answer them. let me move on. i don't want to get in some big hassle here this morning. >> mr. chairman, this is not like you. >> no, it didn't.

>> the ranking. >> it's not like you either.

it's a small finger...a worm! like, a dagger? a tiny sword? bread...breadstick? a matchstick! a lamppost! coin slot! no? uhhh... 10 seconds. a stick! a walking stick! eiffel tower, mount kilimanjaro! (ding) time! sorry, it's a tandem bicycle. what? what?! as long as sloths are slow,

you can count on geico saving folks money. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

welcome back. remember when president trump was trying to woo democrats to vote for the senate gop tax bill in well, i hope he's not holding his breath. at least not since he and senate republican leaders decided to add a repeal of the obamacare individual mandate to the tax bill. now, the individual mandate requires you at home to pay a fine if you don't buy health insurance. the main reason for this risky move is theirtach bill was projected to add to the deficit big-time. a deal breaker for some gop senators. repealing the individual mandate helps with the deficit to the tune of $338 billion. a nice chuchk of money you see at the box your screen but look at the top of the screen. congressional budget office also predicted repeal would cost 13

million people their health insurance. now, to the left, the bill is now an unholy marriage. the death of obamacare ushered back in on the back of the tax breaks for the 1%. the top 1% in this country. to the right, it's a moon shot, a two for one played back by president trump an up hill legislative slog. let's listen to paul ryan, the house speaker last night trying to push the brakes on this idea a little. >> so obviously, we're in favor of repealing the individual mandate but didn't want to needlessly complicate the passage of tax reform given we didn't have the votes before to get this through the senate. we want to see the senate see if they can get that done and we'll discuss whether it's included at the end. >> cnn's phil mattingly is on capitol hill all over this, all the ins and outs and nitty gritty. first and foremost, what's the reaction and can republicans in

the senate pass this bill with the repeal of obama -- of the individual mandate of obamacare. >> reporter: when i heard about this yesterday when this was about to break, myself and all of my colleagues up here made a bee line to three senators, john mccain, lisa murkowski, susan collins the three senators who sank the repeal and replace evident and the three senators that would be key whether this was going to be a major problem. senator john mccain said no. senator susan collins concerns but no outright no. senator murkowski concerns, but not outright rejection. that matters. that means senate republicans they're gauging the proposal, trying to see what can move forward. but they're not getting any outright noes which means the door is open. you talk about the $338 billion, it's what they do with it that they think can persuade members come on board. making the child tax credit to $2,000, reducing middle income rates a little bit here and there. that's adding some kind of additions to the pass through

rate important for small businesses. those are important things and they think that will help them get this across the finish line. >> and phil, while everybody is talking about the senate, let's not forget that the house is actually voting on its tax reform bill tomorrow. they feel pretty good about it inside the house gop leadership. >> let's put this in perspective. the house is about to pass a tax overhaul, something you used to not be able to get committees to even have hearings on these proposals let alone pass it. they feel very confident about their vote count. this underscores what matters more than anything else, perhaps more than the policy. you know this quite well. it's the political imperative making something incredibly complex up to this point move on a pretty smooth track. there's a long way to go and a lot of different ways this could go sideways. at the moment, this is on track to pass the house. senate leaders feel okay where they are and might get this done. again, caveat. this could go bad quickly.

we'll have to wait and see. >> and boy, are they well aware of that inside the republican leadership. fy, thank you so much for that great reporting. look, this is going back to the senate. this is incredibly risky but the republican leaders have their talking points ready to go and how they're trying to sell this which is lets start there. that's a big shift from the twice failed obamacare repeal bill. let's listen to james langford of oklahoma describe why they think this is important adding the individual mandate repeal to tax reform. >> clearly people around the country that are paying this fine that make less than $50,000 each year it's economics for them personally. they want to get rid of this. 81% of the people that pay this fine in my state make less than $50,000. they aren'ten afford the insurance and can't afford the fine. they're looking for some way to get insurance and actually have it, not just have a fine and still have no insurance.

>> lauren, are you another member of our team that's been really dug in on the details. do you think that that message is going to fly at least enough to do what they need in the short term which is pass it in the senate? >> i think it's a smart talking point for republicans. you're right. they have a message this type around. that's very good and the three republicans who voted against this the last time around haven't said that they are an outright no. we also have to remember, this could mobilize democratic support against the tax bill for awhile, it seemed like democrats were having a little bit of a tough time figuring out how to campaign against tax cuts. that can be very unpopular. when you are campaigning against repealing obamacare, that is something democrats know how had to do. i think we should be watching how the base reacts to this. they don't have a lot of time. the house will vote tomorrow on a tax bill that doesn't include the provision. the senate could vote after thanksgiving. there's not a lot of time to mobilize. democrats are hoping maybe their base will get fired up. >> that is a point several

republicans mostly in the house were bringing up, kind of the giveth and taketh away both in policy and the political play here. listen to what chris stufrt said this morning on cnn. >> i actually think there is some risk to it, and i think even if at the heart of it it's something we can defend, for a lot of americans it does muddy the waters a little bit. if the senate were to include that, i think most of the republican colleagues would still support it. would i feel more comfortabling them, yeah, maybe. it's important to note we're not changing any of the dollar amounts. >> >> ultimately, susan collins, murkowski and mccain if they have the votes, they do. i'm not sure they have the votes but this is a risky move but it does solidify -- there was a little bit of rand paul and rubios saying this bill does not cut taxes enough for the middle class. you've taken this mandate money

and given it for middle class taxes and made it so corporate taxes will be in place more. i understand why they did this. it solidified the 48 to 49 votes they wanted. you've now made collins more of a wildcard, murkowski more of a wildcard. mccain's whole rationale voting his health care was confusing in the first place. i'm never sure where he is. i assume he's going to be a wildcard now, too. >> it destroys any possibility this becomes a bipartisan bill. >> that's exactly what i was going to ask. i think the white house wanted that. i think president trump at least in his heart of hearts was hoping some democrats would vote for this. by putting those two issues together in one bill, you can't underestimate the mobilization that will happen by democrats which we've talked about and which we saw clearly in the first two attempts to repeal and replace obamacare. they're just not going to play ball on this. >> the president openly said he wanted this to be a bipartisan bill. he was courting heidi heitkamp of north dakota and others.

mish mcconnell said yesterday this is going to be a partisan bill. but i don't think this is asterisky as it seems. john mccain said he voted against the health care bill because it didn't go through rel order. this is going through regular order. if it passes the senate, they'll go to conference and iron this out. i don't quite -- the repeal of the individual mandate wasn't the sticking point in the house or the senate the first time. i think it's less risky on its face. >> politically but at the end of the day, if they're successful who knows what it does to the insurance markets without the replace part. >> they're trying to get alexander murray. >> hold that thought. we have to take a quick break. not that i don't love talking about murray. president trump declares his trip to asia a great success. can he maintain the momentum now that he's back here at home? that's right. t-mobile's got your netflix subscription covered... ...when you get a family plan with two or more lines.

really? that's incredible. so go ahead and watch however you want. you're messing with me, right? all at no extra charge. this is awesome! another reason why t-mobile is america's best unlimited network. mic drop.

on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. your insurance company raises your rates. maybe you should've done more research on them. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't

raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. replace part. marg

welcome back. president trump is back in the white house today based on his overnight tweets, perhaps a bit jet lagged understandably from a marathon asia trip but among the topics of the president's tweet storm, north korea. a major focus of his asia tour. the her mit kingdom is a topic on capitol hill this week, as well but concern expressed yesterday was about the president himself as much as kim jong-un. republican senator bob corker who has predicted president trump might start world war iii held a meeting of the senate foreign relations committee. he's the chair of that committee. he wanted to talk about presidential authority over nuclear weapons. let's just put this in perspective. this doesn't happen very often.

it was the first time a committee held a hearing on this issue in more than 40 years. 40 years. democrats on the committee as you can imagine wasted no time in sharing their concerns about the president. >> we are concerned that the president of the united states is so unstable, is so volatile as a decision-makinging process that is so quixotic that he might order a nuclear weapon strike that is wildly out of step with u.s. national security interests. >> now, republicans were a little less blunt a lot less blunt but also wanted assurances that there is some oversight in place to prevent the rash use of nuclear weapons. it's sort of a talking point on a presidential campaign, certainly was in 2016. do you want this guy's finger on the nuclear weapons. well, it is. and i -- unless had he paid

attention to this hearing or understand a little bit more reading about it, he has, he the president has a lot of unilateral power when it comes to the nuclear codes and our nuclear arsenal. >> he does. he has talked openly about it in a way that previous presidents have not and he has made threats and used very vigorous language, some would say irresponsible language when talking about north korea and talking about those options. so the fact that the democrats are concerned and the fact that you know, a republican like senator corker has made his concerns so clear is unusual and it's related to the fact that he really does have a lot of power. >> this wasn't a hearing just like let's trash president trump today. they're actually looking to see if there is some way to change the rules, the law so that the power can be taken away from him or any president. it can be kind of spread out a little bit. listen to what the ranking democrat said in exchange with one of his witnesses.

>> is there action that can be taken by those advisers if the president overrules that decision and says no, we're going with a nuclear attack? >> other than to state the, their view about the legality of the move, the president retains constitutional authority to order some military action. >> now, there were some republicans in that hearing and walking around capitol hill who are worried about having this this open discussion and how it would be read in capitals like pyongyang. listen to one of those republican senators. >> i want to make sure that pyongyang understands that this talk about lawyers and this talk about standards and proportionality and all the other things we all talk about is not a discussion that is going to take place in the heat of battle in today's world.

these decisions have to be made in moments. and it is not going to be made by courts or by lawyers or by congress. it's going to be made by the commander in chief of the american forces. >> he has a point. >> there is a constitutional reason that so much military authority is vested in the president of the united states and why the president of the united states is the commander in chief. and so i think you saw in that hearing yesterday the concerns of senators really butting up against some serious constitutional problems because the fact is, the duly elected president of the united states has an enormous apartment of unilateral power when it comes to his ability to make unilateral decisions over the use of nuclear weapons, nuclear first strike and that has been true since the emergence of nuclear weapons on the world stage in the early cold war. >> meanwhile the president is kind of back and trying to

prepare to put his own unique spin or explanation on this trip that he had which he clearly felt went very well. we expect to hear from him at some point. i think it's a question what they're doing inside the white house to try to figure out how to present it. >> i'm sure he'll say it was the greatest trip diplomacy and so on. this hearing was telling mainly not because what was said but because bob corker a republican organized it. jim mattis, john kelly are not going to stop the president has very high authority here. and the idea the generals will stop him or limit him saying we should stop saying and thinking because the president will decide here. that's what the hearing illustrated is a important thing to think about. >> everyone stand by. up next, they're considered the unwritten rules for women on capitol hill. it's a code to protect themselves againsexual harassme.

what's being done as new allegations emerge about sitting lawmakers. stay tuned. so he took aleve this morning. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. tylenol can't do that. aleve. all day strong. all day long.

did yon the national debt?ssman get elected by talking tough will they stay true to their words? or did they promise you one thing... only to do another? right now, congress is talking about tax cuts that will add trillions to our national debt and hurt our economy. it's time to tell congress... don't borrow more money from china. and leave more debt to our kids. keep your word. tax cuts shouldn't add to the national debt.

it's hardly a secret that the capitol hill has long been a boys club, a bastion also for sexual harassment. the harvey weinstein effect is finally reaching capitol hill and lawmakers are starting to speak out and make long overdue moves to address it. last night, house speaker paul ryan said he would require all aides and staffers to undergo harassment training. something that frankly has been done by the private sector for years. and this afternoon, a bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled a

new bill that would make it easier for congressional staffers to report harassment. >> there is a serious sexual harassment problem in congress and too many congressional offices are not taking this problem seriously at all. the inadequate policies that are in place today about sexual harassment in congress make it very difficult for victims to actually come forward, report incidents and seek justice. >> and there's this. the u.s. government has paid out $15 million in settlements, taxpayer dollars, your money going to quietly settle claims that include sexual harassment. to be clear, the fund also deals with racial, religious and other discrimination cases but we really don't know the details of any of it because it's been kept secret. it still is secret. cnn has spoken to dozens of women current and former hill staffers as well as lawmakers themselves to hear their stories and cnn's m.j. lee has been on

the front lines that have reporting and joins me now from capitol hill. m.j., can you give viewers a sense of just some of what you have unearthed? >> reporter: absolutely. i wanted to first point out we just wrapped up a press conference here where congresswoman jackie speier and senator gillibrand have released a new bill trying to overhaul the sexual harassment reporting policies on capitol hill they say are antiquated and not adequate. there was a fascinating moment. one of the questions that i asked congresswoman speier was whether she snows the identities of two members of congress she mentioned at a hearing yesterday as having been accused of sexual harassment. at first she didn't answer my question and said look, we want to protect the victims. but then she was pressed about it again a little later in the press conference. she was specifically asked have you talked to these members of congress that you are talking about. she said she has not approached them and again said when pressed, why not, she said because we want to protect the

identities of the victims. and i guess that has to do with also not revealing the members of congress being accused of this misconduct. i think all of this sort of goes to show in all of the reporting we have been doing over the last couple days or so, we have seen this over and over again where even members of congress are pretty res sent to actually name the perpetrators they are talking about. one congresswoman who did not want to be named this conversation stayed with me because she kind of blurted out in our conversation she said you know, half of them are harassers. talking about her male colleagues in the house. and then she sort of corrected herself and said look, that was an overestimate. only some of them are harassers. when i tried to press her and ask her look, why don't you want to share more details? why don't you want to name these members? she said look, i don't want to make any enemies in congress. it's important for me to have these guys' votes and didn't want to go there. i think this is a big problem

that we are confronting here on capitol hill. yes, there are conversations that are being had now about this culture and how rampant this issue is on congress. but unlike in say hollywood or media and other industries where a lot of women and men have begun to start naming these perpetrators and speaking out against powerful figures, that's not quite the case here on capitol hill, not yet. >> it's true. i call this the harvey weinstein effect september we know the name harry weinstein yet. it's not hollywood mogul number one and we don't know the names of the members of congress. that's rather telling. i want to before i let you go ask you about this $15 million that taxpayer dollars have been spent for settlements. i covered the hill for a long time. i didn't know anything about this. this office of compliance. this is kind of unbelievable. >> that's right. and the office of compliance which a lot of lawmakers a lot of aides we have spoken to many

of them said they didn't even know such an office existed till recently because this office has been a part of people's reportings on stories and the $15 million figure is really fascinating. this is a figure that congresswoman spire's office says the office of compliance has paid out in settlements but really important to keep in mind is we don't know how many of those settlements were actually about sexual harassment and how many of them were about other issues discrimination based on race, disability, religion. so we don't have a clear picture of how much money went towards what kind of settlement. i think that is what these lawmakers are trying to find out. and that's why they've proposed new legislation to try to get at that issue. >> that's exactly right. that's the point. we don't know. and we should know because this is about you know, taxpayer dollars. so thank you very much for your excellent reporting, m.j. people can check out your story on cnn.com.

let my bring it back around the table. you know, not to discriminate here, but let's start with the women. i covered the halls of congress for a long time. you're there every single day. what's the reaction to this? are you seeing a lot of ashen-faced men walking around, worried that you know, perhaps them or their friends will get named? >> i think it's clear that people will be very careful about how they conduct themselves over the next following weeks. >> good. >> months, this reporting matters. there has been a culture on capitol hill. there are a lot of powerful men up on the hill and a lot of concern when you were talking about tiny house offices, these offices are places where people work very closely together. there's a lot of concern when women come forward, it might become very clear who is pointing the finger very quickly. i had i that that's part of the reason why we haven't seen members' names being used at this point. there's a lot of fear that people would come forward and they would be discredited

because of the powerful men they're accusing. > sexual harassment is a power play. can you think of a place where there is morse of a power center, the halls of congress is about as powerful as it gets. and it's understandable that people are concerned. but probably like the weinstein situation, you need the dam to break with somebody being called out. and it does take a lot of guts. it's very difficult because once a victim talks, that's what they're going to be known for for the rest of their lives. >> i think it's absolutely true. you're seeing this spread from one industry to another. the thing that the constant here is that you see powerful nen exploiting women with less power who are looking to advance in their careers, sometimes, but not always and they're using that power and exerting it as a way to either advance them or keep them down from roger ailes at fox news to harvey weinstein

in hollywood to members of congress who have enormous power over whether their aides rise and fall and so this is i think very closely tied to the advancement or not of women in the workplace. >> and guys, we just have to remember, this isn't just staffer who's work for the members. these are female lawmakers who are also being harassed by their peers. let me read you one quote from m.j. piece. in this body, this is a female lawmaker, you may be an enemy one day and a close ali the next when accomplishing something. women will be very cautious about saying anything negative about any of their colleagues. my god. >> the power between the staff and the members but like a chairman is much more powerful than a freshman member. one thing to note, 15 million in settlements means there's a paper trail somewhere. i expect reporters will look for that. that may be where the story comes in next. a lot of cases you're seeing the

settlements create documents where you can break the story out who the members are. >> these lawmakers who are the press conference m.j. was reporting on today are trying to get it so it's public. i think they're probably going to have a good shot. we hope. thanks for that discussion. coming up, is the democrat running against roy moore in alabama trying to stay local, keep his distance from washington? who can blame him.

alright, i brought in high protein to help get us moving. ...and help you feel more strength and energy in just two weeks! i'll take that. -yeeeeeah!

ensure high protein. with 16 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar. ensure. always be you.

which egg has better taste only eggland's best. and is the only egg i'll serve my family? eggland's best. better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. democrats are hoping allegations against alabama's roy moore put that ruby red seat in play. the democrat on the ballot is becoming part of a national

story line, but doug jones, he's the democrat, he isn't trying to play to the blue base. his latest ad released yesterday tries to pull over republicans or pretty much anybody who doesn't like roy moore. >> just awful. >> i just don't trust him. >> he's too die visive. don't decency and integrity matter anymore. >> i'm a republican but roy moore, no way. >> i'm for doug jones. >> i'm another republican for doug jones. >> question is, are there enough of those for doug jones. it's a big open question. but the way jones is playing this is smart. he had a fund-raiser scheduled an in-person fund-raiser, $500 a head with cam ma la harris angkorry booker, two well-known senators, canceled it, and he's saying basically to the leadership thank you so much for your money. stay in washington or wherever

it is you come from. good strategy? >> yeah, the last thing he wants to do and that had help him is to align himself with the people in the democratic party that others and particularly republicans in alabama will say this means he's like a west coast liberal. he wants to emphasize his strengths, emphasize the weaknesses of his opponent and keep the democrats at bay but take their money. >> the last time a democrat, this is just it's a long shot here, last time a democrat was elected to the u.s. senate from alabama was 25 years ago. it was richard shelby who then became a republican a couple years later. so it really shows how tough it is. i also think that the other way that jones is playing this is like moore in that he is not -- not signing onto the leadership of his party in congress, meaning moore is saying it's us against them. and jones is saying, well you know what? i'm not so sure if i'll support

chuck schumer as my leader. >> it's a brilliant play and something we see red state dems doing. once you're in the senate it, becomes harder to run against schumer because he is your leader and you voted for him. moving forward it's the only way a democrat will win a state like alabama. >> i also think on the republican side, this has become such a personal fight between mitch mcconnell and roy moore and that republicans are recoiling in any way from mitch mcconnell that i think it's -- it behooves it doug jones to stay out of that grudge match and to do his own thing. so i do think it's a very savvy move on his part. >> he's going to get about 25% of republicans. bob 25%, because ta state is so red. i still think end of the day, he's a democrat. people will figure that out. it's going to be hard for him to win that race. >> it will be very hard.

it will be easy to -- interesting to see which side this galvanizes. probably the answer is both. >> for sure. >> thank you so much. thank you for joining us on "inside politics." >> wolf blitzer is up after a quick break.

how much money do you think you'll need in retirement? then we found out how many years that money would last them. how long do you think we'll keep -- oooooohhh! you stopped! you're gonna leave me back here at year 9? how did this happen? it turned out, a lot of people fell short,

of even the average length of retirement. we have to think about not when we expect to live to, but when we could live to. let's plan for income that lasts all our years in retirement. prudential. bring your challenges. hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington, 8:00 p.m. in zimbabwe. and 12:00 a.m. thursday in daca, bangladesh. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. make or break. all eyes on president trump who has yet to speak up on the fate of senate candidate roy moore. as more republicans denounce moore, will trump call on moore to quit? the pressure builds. plus, jeff sessions, being floated as the answer to the seat in the u.s. senate. so if the attorney general leaves, what does it mean for the russia investigation? and hail mary. the republicans going for it all by targeting obamacare